quorum call: mr. merkley: mr. president?

the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley merkley: thank you. ,mr. president. i wanted to make a few comments on what has transpired here on the floor of the senate. first, some enormously good work has been done with regard to addressing the disaster caused by hurricane sandy. i know in a number of states, unprecedented devastation has occurred and we should respond extremely quickly, more quickly than we have. and i hope the house will immediately take up this -- this package. certainly, disaster relief delayed is disaster relief denied. so i hope the house will, indeed, move extremely quickly to address the devastation throughout the northeast. mr. president, i also wanted to note that tonight, 55 senators stood up and said as we assist

the victims of hurricane sandy, we should also assist the victims of unprecedented drought and fires that devastated much of our country this last summer. how is it, you might wonder, that we had devastating fires in july and august and into september, devastating drought, and we still haven't approved the disaster assistance? well, i would say it's 100% unacceptable. if you lost your ranch in a fire, if you lost your fencing, if you lost your livestock, and the program that would have helped, that has always been in place for disaster assistance wasn't reauthorized, then you've been stranded since june or since july or since august.

and perhaps in that interim, you've lost your farm. perhaps you lost your ranch. perhaps you've mortgaged everything to try to hold on. and yet, here is the u.s. senate saying, hey, it's okay that we're not helping you now because you know what? we're going to help you in the farm bill. well, where is the farm bill? it's not on the president's desk. it isn't in route to the president's desk. it hasn't even been brought up on the floor of the u.s. house. a bipartisan group of senators in this body approved a farm bill and had the disaster relief for our ranchers and farmers in it and sent it over to the house, and it's never been discussed. that is completely unacceptable. it is a moral failure to leave those struck by disaster stranded.

well, tonight 55 senators agree it is unacceptable. we should help right now. but you know what? under the budget point of order that was put forward, you needed 60 votes. we needed 60 votes tonight to help our ranchers and farmers. we only had 55. now here's the interesting thing. this budget point of order is supposed to be about saving money, but this body already approved all of those disaster relief programs in the farm bill. and when that farm bill is done, we were assured tonight that these provisions would be maintained, that we will assist our ranchers and farmers. will, thus, we won't save a dime. not a dime saved because the same program will eventually be approved. but the relief will be coming so

late to the victims of the drought and the victims of the fire who lost their livestock and their forage and their fences. tonight what happened for those 40 who voted against helping our ranchers and farmers because they didn't save a penny but did enormous damage to citizens across this country, ranchers and farmers, who were counting on us. so i rise to say that i deeply regret the senate's decision tonight. i deeply regret the 40 votes against our ranchers and farmers. i deeply regret that 40 said even though it won't save a dime, we are going to hold them hostage to the farm bill to its eventually passage someday. holding people hostage who have been victims after disaster is morally unacceptable. so again, i thank the 5 tonight

who voted -- i thank the 55 tonight who voted on the bipartisan amendment, my partner on the republican side of the aisle, senator blunt, to be profoundly complimented for stepping in to help carry this charge. i was pleased to be his partner. i was pleased to be a partner with senator stabenow, chair of the agriculture committee, who worked closely with us to arrange for this senate amendment to be possible tonight, to be able to have this vote. so i thank her. i thank senator blunt. i thank the other senate cosponsors. and i thank everyone who voted tonight to say that disaster relief should no longer be delayed for the victims of the fires and droughts of the summer of 2012. thank you, mr. president. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are in

a quorum call. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent an amendment to title h.r. 1, the title of which is at the desk be agreed to. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that a time determined by the majority leader with the concurrence of the republican leader, the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 502, h.r. 8. the presiding officer: is there objection to the request? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that following leader remarks on sunday, december 30, the senate proceed to executive session and consider calendar numbered 518 under the previous order. further, that the use or yielding back of the time, we would proceed to consideration of calendar number 909 and proceed to vote on calendar number 909 and calendar number 518. that there be two minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form prior to each vote, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, no further motion in order be in order to the

nominations, any statement to the nominations be printed in the record, that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 575 s., 3454. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 475, s. 3454, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. reid: thanks, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that a feinstein-chambliss substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, and the senate proceed to vote on passage of this measure. the presiding officer: without objection. the substitute amendment is agreed to. and the clerk will read the bill

as amended a third time. the clerk: calendar number 475, s. 3454, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there any further debate? if not, the question is on passage of the bill. as amended. all those in favor say aye. mr. reid: aye. the presiding officer: all those opposed say nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the motion to -- the presiding officer: the bill as amended is passed. mr. reid: i'm sorry, mr. president, to interrupt you. i ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate and any statements related to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that the committee on foreign relations be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1464, and we now proceed to that matter.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1464, an act to develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from north korea, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask that the burr substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, that the bill as amended be read a third time, passed, that the title amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, that any statements relating to this matter appear at the appropriate place in the -- appropriate place in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that we proceed to h.r. 6014. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 6014, an act to authorize the attorney general to award grants for states to

implement d.n.a. arrestee collection processes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements related to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further activity regarding h.r. 6620 and now the senate proceed to this matter. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 6620, an act to amend title 18 united states code, and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third

time, passed, the motion to reconsider be considered and laid on the table, there being no intervening action or debate and any statements related to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if given. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent, mr. president, we proceed to h.r. 6621. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 6621, an act to correct and improve certain provisions of the leahy-smith america invents act and title 35 united states code. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the leahy-grassley substitute amendment which is at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table and that any statements related to this matter be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 1:00 p.m. on sunday, december 30, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning

business be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that following any leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session under the previous order, and that following disposition of the galante nomination, the senate recess for one hour to allow for caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: so, mr. president, there will be two roll call votes at approximately 2:00 p.m. on sunday. i ask that if there is no further business to come before the senate, that following the remarks of senator schumer to not exceed eight minutes that the senate adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: well, passing this bill was really a very fine accomplishment, and of course we senators get up and stand up and are very proud of it, as we should be, but without our staffs, we couldn't get any of this done. so i would just like to take a few minutes to thank my staff,

many of whom were personally impacted by superstorm sandy, who worked tirelessly to ensure that new york's needs were adequately addressed, as my state continues to react and recover to superstorm sandy and her aftermath. because of their hard work and tireless efforts, i know that new york's needs have been addressed in the sandy supplemental legislation that passed through the senate earlier this evening. my great l.d., heather mchugh, coordinated this effort, making sure every type of aid was considered and included in this package. she has great knowledge of both the senate and the house, and it was invaluable in getting this done. my deputy chief of staff, aaron sagervaun who is just so selfless and wonderful in making sure that every t is crossed and every i is dotted, i thank her as well. her team, jerry patrella did an amazing job. he is a long islander.

he felt the impact of the storm personally. he was there every step of the way, making sure we didn't leave out anything. megan richardson, megan tyra, jonah crane, grant kerr, sean burn, hannah greenberg, veronica duran were all exceptional on our legislative staff in bringing their expertise to help new york. i want to thank my press team, brian fallon, max young, meredith kennedy, marissa calvin and chris scribner who did a great job. while this legislation is a tremendous accomplishment for my staff here in washington, d.c., i would also like to thank members of my regional offices who not only lived through and experienced sandy but made themselves available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to see that the people of new york's needs be recognized and addressed, who extended their arrest out to those who were in trouble. martin brennan heads my new york operation. he had a torn achilles and

hobbled around in a cast, but he led our staff as he always does, as a team and exquisitely. our casework team, they are seasoned. suzy orloff who i went to second grade with and has been working for me for over 30 years, cindy renwick, joyce cheng, karin vaparian have spent months helping new yorkers cut through the red tape and get the aid they need. nick martin did an amazing job of connecting resources to needs across new york city and long island. cody palusso and deanna robinson helped make sure that new york's northern suburbs were not forgotten. and touring the damaged communities was a heart-wrenching task. lane bodian who travels with me was with me every step of the way. and the logistic team, megan murphy, janet jones and alex victor helped make sure we got where we needed to be in those very difficult days after the

storm and ever since. additionally, mr. president, two members of my team were hit hard by the storm. they lost their houses or their houses were badly flooded, and i want to thank them because they ignored their personal situation, particularly in the days after the storm, to help new yorkers. for that, i will always be grateful to kyle strober who runs our long island office and to michelle basek, his assistant whose family's home was flooded badly on staten island. and finally, the leader of our team is a guy named mike lynch who has molded us into a great operation, and he didn't put his name in here characteristically, but he deserves a huge amount of thanks. of course, my colleague, senator gillibrand, lautenberg, menendez and their teams were essential. we worked as sort of a seamless web, and i look forward to working with them, too, on the implementation of this package. i want to thank senator inouye.

when he was ill, he continued to meet with senators gillibrand, menendez, lautenberg and myself, and we knew how much he cared, and i know he's looking down as i think senator mikulski said and he's smiling at the good work that we did in a bipartisan way to get this bill passed. of course, i want to thank senator mikulski. she is -- this was the first bill she managed and let it be a metaphor for all of her bills. senator gillibrand and i have just labeled her the engineer. she led that train down the track speedily, without flaw but carefully and was a great leader. senator landrieu, the chair of the homeland security subcommittee, was incredible in giving us advice and help, and even in those darkest days was there for us, and the other subcommittee leaders, senator leahy, senator feinstein, senator murray all made sure

that this package became a reality. their staffs, charlie hoye, lila helms, gabby baffer and alex keenan were great. and of course my good friend, truly one of the closest friends i have and a great leader of this place who understood the need and went out of his way for us, senator reid, was invaluable. it wouldn't have happened without him or his amazing floor staff led by gary myrick and tim mitchell who really gave us tremendous advice and help. so i want to thank them. and finally, i want to thank my republican colleagues across the aisle for putting aside partisanship. we had real differences, but this bill was debated and conducted in the right way. we allowed a lot of amendments, the bills were not blocked, there were no cheap shots. it was great. and i also want to thank gary's colleague, dave, for his advice and help as well. so with that, mr. president, i wish everybody a nice saturday

and see you all on sunday. and i ask consent to amend the order to allow a statement by senator pryor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. pryor pryor: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. pryor: i understand that we're in a quorum call, so i would ask that that be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. pryor: mr. president, i have a couple of things to say. first, i know the senator of new york just left, senator schumer, and i just want the people of new york to know, all the citizens of that state, how hard he worked to get this legislation passed. the entire delegation of new york and new jersey were outstanding, but senator schum schumer, the -- when the storm was still raging, he was on the phone calling senators and congressmen and calling the white house to get help for his state and the region, and he just deserves a lot of credit for getting us here. but truthfully the delegations of all of those states really pulled together and showed a lot of leadership, so we appreciate that. also, we were so pleased that

senator mikulski was able to take the lead on this. it was a lot of fun for all of us to see her in action in her first real bill that she handled on the floor as chairman of the appropriations committee. mr. president, on roll call vote 248, i voted "no." it was my intention to vote "aye." therefore, i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to change my vote since it will not affect the outcome. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection. mr. pryor: i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 1:00 p.m. stands adjourned until 1:00 p.m.

>> you don't always find many newspaper editors of many area embracing investigative reporting. but the point is seen number theory says it's not just economics. if the discomfort investigative reporting causes in a newsroom because it's troublesome. it's that for an economics. if you ruffle the feathers of somebody powerful, get it people running into complaint to the editor. we were very fortunate not to 70s and almost all her career's to work for people who were really strong and upgrade in that area and let the chips fall where they may.

>> now on booktv, fairness 17th annual texas book festival in austin, texas, robert draper discusses his book titled "do not ask what good we do" inside the u.s. house of representatives. this is about 45 minutes. >> afternoon in the ceo and editor-in-chief of the texas tribune. i'm pleased to be here developed buddy, robert draper, magazine writer and author whose latest book is "do not ask what good we do." robert is a familiar face around these parts having spent the media early part of this tour is one of texas marquee writers.

i together kenefick dean martin and jerry lewis back on stage one time. he is currently a contributing writer to "the new york times" magazine and "national geographic" and correspondent for gq. dead certain a critically acclaimed biography at church biography of george w. bush, comprehensive history "rolling stone" magazine and a novel he transposed. robert is a native of houston attended university of texas at austin. please join me in welcoming robert draper. [applause] nice to see you. i thought we might start broad. are we better off than we were two years ago? [laughter] >> i really have to answer that question? it's a question that needs answering? >> it does. >> unit of measurement to democrats produces different from that which the republicans would use. a speaker john boehner has said over and overcome in the past record lows speaks ill of this

congress are not imposing new regulations are increasing taxes. that's one way of looking at it. the way most people look at it i tested two bytes record of popularity approval rating is that this is a congress that has been defined by dysfunction in gridlock, a congress in which half a loaf has never been better than none. there were compromises really seem to be a foreign policy, naming a policy for him to the world's great deliberative body. >> you actually think that people are granted 2010 it got elected or the people ran before and it now ascended to positions of leadership believes that go with a solution or they were like that to not do things i supposed to do things? >> well, again, from a class of 2010 and our effort to the the 87 freshman, the so-called tea party class of the 112 congress,

their belief is they are doing precisely what the people who elected them did, which is rolled back obama initiatives, cut spending. a lot that the debt ceiling should not be increased under a circumstances where they feel like i was a failure. but they basically believe their job is first to obstruct barack obama and once there is a republican president in place to pass this initiatives that create better business climate. more and more deregulation committee funding of programs that have never quite been near and dear to them. i think they do believe -- of course to fast-forward a bit about the debt ceiling fiasco of 2011, but after the summer we were taken to the brink of a fiscal cliff, one we are about to see it it can come in to thinking part of the house republican leadership was maybe her tea party freshman will go home, get yelled at by constituents and they'll realize

this compromise is not such a bad thing. the opposite occurred. he went home and people go to town halls tend to be the activists of their party and those people tend to be tea party and everyone screaming, why did you accept a deal? you said you would not under any circumstances read the debt ceiling. at best it's been mixed messages and the great likelihood it will be a while before we see moderation. >> is this further look at the freshman from his second term members of congress and save if only we could control them. is it the case of leadership feels it is so fond of saying what those who wish to obstruct or is the leadership secretly happy that the freshmen are getting the blame for the credit for doing the dirty work that they probably politically would not do as leaders of the house? >> the leadership is happy to dare and power. that's it. i suspected they wake up screaming from time to time

because they don't have control. the leadership or refer to speaker john boehner, minority leader eric cantor, kevin mccarthy. it's not for this class of 87 freshman. the class of 2010. would be minority leader boehner. these guys came and not beholden by any means to leadership and made it clear from the outset that they were not just going to be told to fall into line. the real problem for modeled this republican leadership, but to prove to be the case if the democrats regain power is that the enforcement tools of yesteryear are indeed of yesteryear, since it earmarks have now been banned, since the blogosphere you can turn somebody into an instant martyr by stripping them of their committee assignments. it's very, very hard to use a stake in addition to a kerry. there's a .. of my book i

referred to after the debt ceiling fiasco of the summer of 2011 when they came back in yet another conjuring resolution used to fund the government and the obama administration had passed a budget was coming up. the republican leadership believed they couldn't use the vote in fact there are members voted against it. the appropriations committee, which designed these continuous solutions and all other spending bills with serious. they insisted on meeting with the leadership. were the ones being punished. for doing everything you want us to do and get these guys still won't go for it. ..